This invention relates to a seal for self-aligning bearings and more specifically relates to a novel seal for such bearings.
A prior art seal is disclosed in Federal Republic of Germany published application 0S 37 09344 includes a sheet metal ring fastened both on the outer ring and on the respective inner ring of the bearing. One of the sheet metal rings has on it at least one sealing ring, and the sealing ring has a lip which comes to rest on the other facing sheet metal ring and therefore seals off the space within which the bearing rollers are contained. One disadvantage of this embodiment is that, particularly in the case of a large angular swing of the rings of the self-aligning bearing, the sheet metal rings shift so that gaps can occur between the sealing lips and the sheet metal rings. Only a small range of swing can readily be accommodated without experiencing problems with the resilient sealing lips.